Magical Journaling 101
5 approaches to regular artistic expression, recordkeeping, introspection, and magic
Years ago, journaling sounded to me like something other people did. Sure, I kept a day planner, and I had notebooks I scribbled in on occasion. But there’s nothing particularly Pinterest- or Instagram-worthy about any of my planners and journals, except maybe some of the covers. My chicken-scratch handwriting could rival a doctor’s prescription pad for illegibility. And despite all the art classes I took when I was younger, I have yet to produce anything like da Vinci’s notebooks. (Then again, who else has?)
Somewhere along the way, I picked up the habit of journaling anyway. The good news is that anyone can journal — no Renaissance artist-level talent needed. Have a notebook and some time on your hands? Congrats, you can add “journaling” to your list of hobbies.
Yet one place where I got stuck, and I’m sure others have too, is exactly where to begin with journaling. You found a really gorgeous notebook. Now what?
I’ve been using journals for years now, for several distinct purposes. (And these don’t include my notebooks full of random scribbles or my gratuitous use of the Notes app on my iPhone.) Here are five methods I use and the ways you can start journaling:
1. Track your goals and habits in a day planner
Whether you choose lined paper or a bullet journal, a plain old notebook makes for an excellent D.I.Y. planner. I used to be a Filofax addict, or else I’d buy a ready-made journal, but none of them ever had space for everything I wanted to include. I love using a notebook instead because I can design my own weekly agendas and add sections for monthly goals, lists, and other important info.
I’ve been doing this for five years now, and I think I’ve perfected their layout. A few things I include are:
Yearly goals (of course!)
A list of the “best of” the previous year (like a big gratitude list)
Questions to look back and plan ahead
A year-ahead tarot reading (get some inspo here)
Monthly calendars with moon phases and major astrological events (like everyone’s fave Mercury Retrograde)
Space for a habit tracker (I stick to no more than five daily habits)
Goals and single-card tarot readings for the month ahead
Week-on-one-page sections with space for weekly goals
Want more? I’ve written at length about what I use in my planners, especially in bullet journal format, in my zine.
2. Write your daily morning pages
The best way to cultivate a journaling practice is through consistency. For that, I turn to morning pages, as outlined in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.
The Artist’s Way is divided into 12 chapters (plus intro and epilogue), meant to be read as one chapter, or lesson, per week. Each chapter explains how to “recover” your creativity, with journaling prompts, activities, and opportunities to slow down and observe your process. If you want a quick and easy summary, I’ve written a primer on the book and its methods.
One of the activities that Cameron assigns are morning pages. The idea behind morning pages is to do them every day, ideally first thing in the morning to get out of your own way, creatively speaking. For this activity, you freewrite three pages (by hand, in an actual notebook or on looseleaf paper) each morning to start your day.
You should write your pages first thing in the morning. From my experience, though it can be impactful no matter when you choose to fit it into your schedule. I refer to mine as “daily pages” rather than morning pages because missing that morning window doesn’t mean I need to skip the practice all together. It’s a useful bit of introspection at any time of day.
It’s okay for morning pages to be very stream-of-consciousness versus something highly structured. Mine are more of a brain-dump than anything else. I might write about what’s going on in my life superficially — or what’s really going on beneath the surface. Other days, I might make a simple to-do list to organize my thoughts. If you’re stuck on what to write about, this is also a great place to pull tarot or oracle cards and journal on your interpretation.
The Artist’s Way and Julia Cameron’s other books contain helpful prompts, or you can use journal prompts from other sources if you have them. One of my favorite activities from The Artist’s Way was to list 10 wishes for the future in 7 different categories (so 70 wishes total): health, possessions, leisure, relationships, career, creativity, spirituality/magic.
3. Get witch-crafty with a grimoire
A grimoire is a place to keep spells, magical information, and other details of your spiritual practice, if you have one. While adherents to witchcraft, paganism, and other related paths are most likely to use a grimoire, I think anyone can benefit from charting their spiritual path.
In my grimoires:
Spells (of course)
Drawings, collages, photos, and any clippings of magical art
Magical info and correspondences around tarot, runes, astrology, color magic, gods/goddesses, herbs, crystals, and other magical topics
Ingredients for spell bottles and sachets (my favorite types of magical workings)
Sigil designs
Tarot spread designs and readings
Gratitude lists
My astrological natal chart (either print this out or draw your own)
Vision boards with collages
Notes and letters to my future self to find later
Pressed flowers and four-leaf clovers (finding the latter seems to be my weird superpower)
Inspirational quotes, book excerpts, poems, etc.
4. Devote a journal to a single topic or subject
Dedicating one of your notebooks to a single subject is a great way to use it. For instance, I keep a travel journal. I bought a pink hardcover Leuchtturm sketchbook on vacation in Stockholm years ago, and it became a place to write down all the places we went. I still use it today to list out places I’ve been and the rough “itineraries” of my vacations. I also keep mementos from trips in it, like cool postcards, tickets, business cards, stickers, and other paper items I pick up along the journey.
If you’re in the process of learning a new skill, you might also dedicate a journal to that. While I was learning how to read tarot cards, I kept a tiny notebook filled with everything that I was learning to act as my own custom “little white book.”
5. Express yourself with an art journal
Finally, what better way to journal than to use it purely for your artistic expression. I’ve found two different approaches that work for me, but these are just ideas to get you started.
Ready-made art journals: I’m a big fan of the 1 Page at a Time journal by Adam J. Kurtz. It’s full of prompts to draw, write, scribble, fill in the blanks, rip, and cut one page per day. It’s helped me get over the “perfectionism” of journaling and making art in general. (Read more about how I used 1 Page for a whole year.) Kurtz also has another journal called Pick Me Up, which is aimed at leaving “pep talks” for yourself for later. There’s another book similar to 1 Page at a Time called Wreck This Journal, which I don’t have but want to try in the future.
Blank sketchbooks: I recently finished one entire sketchbook. Most of it is still filled with drawings, some of which I have yet to cut out and frame. Other pages I’ve torn out already, usually when making drawings for my husband. (I like making him valentines each year.) I also have a big sketchbook that I’ve begun to collage in, but it’s still in its early stages. Another idea: If you’re familiar with challenges like Inktober, you can adapt prompts for drawings to your regular art practice. Challenge yourself to create an illustration every day, every week, or on a schedule that suits you best.
One more thing
Use all of the above methods or mix and match. There’s nothing that says you can only use a journal for one purpose only. Sketch in your morning pages, make your day planner a magical record of spells and rituals, or create collages dedicated to your travels in your sketchbook. There are no rules when it comes to what you put on a blank page.
I would love to hear how you’ve been journaling (and how you’re going to use those notebooks you’ve been hoarding) in the comments.